Isthminia

Isthminia Temporal range: Late Miocene (Messinian), ~6.1–5.8  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype skull (digital model) in right lateral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Superfamily:	Inioidea
Family:	Iniidae
Genus:	† Isthminia Pyenson et al., 2015
Type species
†Isthminia panamensis Pyenson et al., 2015

Isthminia (named after the Republic of Panama and its people) is a genus of medium-sized river dolphin cetaceans that lived during the Late Miocene epoch in what is now the coasts of Panama, about 6.1 million to 5.8 million years ago. The type species is I. panamensis, known from the littoral Chagres Formation. ^[1]

Description

Life restoration of Isthminia

Fossils of Isthminia were found in the Chagres Formation in Panama. On the basis of the fossil material, including a partial skull, the length of Isthminia is estimated to be about 2.85 m (9.4 ft) long. Isthminia probably had a predominantly marine lifestyle. ^[1]

See also

• Evolution of cetaceans

References

1. Pyenson, Nicholas D.; Vélez-Juarbe, Jorge; Gutstein, Carolina S.; Little, Holly; Vigil, Dioselina; O'Dea, Aaron (2015). "Isthminia panamensis, a new fossil inioid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Chagres Formation of Panama and the evolution of 'river dolphins' in the Americas". PeerJ . 3 e1227. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1227 . PMC   4562255 . PMID   26355720.

External links

• Media related to Isthminia at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Isthminia at Wikispecies